Provincial parks are beginning to pack up following a long summer, with activities soon to drop off following the upcoming long weekend.

The season has brought a lot of challenges in Saskatchewan like smoke coming from more northern communities and another dry summer.

Regional Director for the Southeast Park Region Tanya Lawson says that as a whole the area had a good summer.

"We've had a great summer. The weather's been really nice for the most part all summer and it's been a busy summer. We're looking at slightly above occupancy compared dot what we saw last year, so overall really good numbers in our region."

Lawson expects those numbers to be bumped up even further this long weekend and beyond with a few more campers in September.

Those numbers have been helped out by comparatively little smoke in the southeast.

"I think for our region we haven't been much different from the rest of the parks. We've had a few smoky days, but for the most part, it didn't hang around that long each time and so I don't think it affected much," said Lawson, "People were still able to get out and enjoy the parks, enjoy the lakes, and still have a good time camping."

The southeast was also noticeably wetter than the rest of the province over the summer, keeping any fire bans from ruining campfires in the area.

"We did see dry periods in our region, however, it never quite got severe enough to require any fire restrictions. Luckily the rain came right when it was needed most, so we were able to avoid them."

"I think we've had a really great camping season. Moose Mountain, in particular, has had an excellent summer," said Lawson, "They had one of their big festivals, their cabin fever art festival, it was particularly a great event as we unveiled the heritage plaque marking the chalet and artist colony officially as provincial historic sites."

Lawson says she's confident they'll be able to end their year on a good note and says there are still spaces left for the long weekend.

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